Guangdong People's Political Consultative Conference

Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN30853 Country: China Date: 30 October 2006

Keywords: China – Guangdong – Guangdong People’s Political Consultative Conference – Falun Gong

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions 1. What is the Guangdong People’s Political Consultative Conference? 2. Question deleted. 3. Is there any information about the Chinese Government targeting family members of Falun Gong supporters by framing them for crimes that they did not commit? 4. Anything else of relevance.

RESPONSE

1. What is the Guandong People’s Political Consultative Conference? Second part of question deleted.

The following information on the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is sourced from China’s Official Gateway to News & Information, China.org.cn:

The CPPCC is an organization of the united front with wide representation. It is an important organ of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC [Communist Party of China]. It is composed of the CPC, other political parties, mass organizations, and representative public personages from all walks of life, representatives of compatriots of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao as well as of returned overseas Chinese and other specially invited people.

…The major function of the CPPCC is to conduct political consultation and exercise democratic supervision, organize its members from various non-Communist political parties, mass organizations and public personages from all walks of life to take part in the discussion and management of state affairs.

(1) Content and forms of political consultation

Political consultation covers socialist material and spiritual construction, the building of a democratic legal system, important policies and planning of the reform and opening up program, reports on the work of the government, national financial and fiscal budget, economic and social development planning, major issues in political life in the country, drafting of major national laws, candidates for the state proposed by the CPC Central Committee, changes in the administrative division at the provincial level, major policies in foreign affairs, major policies in regard to the unification of the motherland, major issues involving people’s livelihood, affairs of common interest of the political parties, important affairs of the CPPCC and other important issues in regard to the patriotic united front.

Political consultation takes the forms of plenary sessions, standing committees and meetings of the chairmen of the National Committee of the CPPCC, discussion meetings of Standing Committee members of the CPPCC, special committee meetings of the CPC, consultation meetings participated by people from various political parties, representative public personages without political party affiliation, mass organizations, ethnic minorities and patriotic figures from different walks of life and activities of local people’s political consultative conferences at various levels.

(2) Major contents of democratic supervision

Democratic supervision covers such areas as the implementation of the Constitution, laws and regulations of the state, implementation of major policies formulated by the CPC Central Committee and state organs, the implementation of the national economic and social development plans and financial budget, the conduct of duties, law observance, and honesty of state organs and their staff, the execution of decisions and the regulations of the CPPCC on the part of its units and individuals. Democratic supervision takes the forms of plenary sessions, Standing Committee meetings and meetings of the chairmen of the CPPCC submitting proposals to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council; various special committees of the CPPCC putting forward suggestions and reports; inspection, proposal, exposing and other forms of criticism and suggestion by individual CPPCC members; taking part in investigations organized by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council as well as activities organized by local people’s political consultative conferences.

(3) Main contents of taking part in and managing state affairs

This includes organizing investigations and research of issues that the general public is concerned with, causing the attention of the CPC committees and departments of the State Council and which the CPPCC is capable of doing; actively making constructive suggestions to CPC and the government at various levels, maximizing the role of CPPCC members and their specialty to offer suggestions and services to the program of reform, opening up and the modernization drive (‘Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’ 2005, News Guangdong, source: China.org.cn, 18 January http://www.newsgd.com/government/govdepart/200501180111.htm – Accessed 27 October 2006 – Attachment 1).

The CPPCC comprises of a National Committee and local committees. The following information on local committees is sourced from China’s Official Gateway to News & Information, China.org.cn:

The provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities divided into districts, counties, autonomous counties, as well as cities not divided into districts and districts under the jurisdiction of cities, where there are conditions for setting up the CPPCC, shall establish proper organizations of the CPPCC.

At present there are more than 3,000 CPPCC local committees at various levels made up by a total membership of over half a million.

Local committees of the CPPCC serve a term of five years (‘Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’ 2005, News Guangdong, source: China.org.cn, 18 January http://www.newsgd.com/government/govdepart/200501180111.htm – Accessed 27 October 2006 – Attachment 1).

An article on the Guangzhou Municipality website reports that the Fourth Session of the 9th Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC opened on 21 February 2006 (‘GD Provincial CPPCC session opens’ 2006, Guangzhou Municipality website, 22 February http://www.guangzhou.gov.cn/node_420/node_683/2006-02/114056985892692.shtml – Accessed 27 October 2006 – Attachment 2).

2. Question deleted.

3. Is there any information about the Chinese Government targeting family members of Falun Gong supporters by framing them for crimes that they did not commit?

No information on the treatment of family members of Falun Gong supporters by the Chinese government was found amongst the sources consulted. Sources indicate that family members of activists or dissidents in China have been subjected to arrest, detention, surveillance, harassment, beatings and intimidation by the Chinese government.

According to the US Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2005, family members of political prisoners in China were subject to arbitrary detention, house arrest, surveillance and harassment by the Chinese government during 2005:

Among those specially targeted for arbitrary detention or arrested during the year were current and former China Democracy Party activists, Falun Gong practitioners, domestic and foreign journalists, unregistered religious figures, and former political prisoners and their family members.

…The government used house arrest as a nonjudicial punishment and control measure against dissidents, released political prisoners, family members of political prisoners, petitioners, underground religious figures, and others it deemed politically sensitive or troublemakers. House arrest was characterized by complete isolation in one’s own home or another location under lock and guard. In some cases house arrest involved constant monitoring, but the target of house arrest was occasionally permitted to leave the home to work or conduct errands. When outside the home, the subject of house arrest was usually, but not always, under surveillance. No publicly available laws or regulations governed conditions for house arrest.

…Family members of some detained political prisoners reported being under house arrest or other surveillance for nearly one-third of the year.

…Security personnel also harassed and detained the family members of political prisoners, including following them to meetings with foreign reporters and diplomats, and urging them to remain silent about the cases of their relatives. Family members of prisoners were discouraged or prevented from meeting with the UN special rapporteur for torture.

…House arrest continued to be used as a nonjudicial punishment and control measure against dissidents, family members of political prisoners, petitioners, and others whom the government or party deemed politically sensitive or “troublemakers” (US Department of State 2006, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2005 – China, 8 March, Section 1d, 1f & 2d – Attachment 3).

The UN Special Rapporteur visited China between 20 November and 2 December 2005. According to the UN Special Rapporteur “during the visit a number of alleged victims and family members, lawyers and human rights defenders were intimidated by security personnel, placed under police surveillance, instructed not to meet the Special Rapporteur, or were physically prevented from meeting with him” (UN Economic Council 2006, Civil and Political Rights, including the question of torture and detention: Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak – Mission to China, 10 March, E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6 – Attachment 4)

An article dated 15 June 2005 in The Sydney Morning Herald reports that “dissidents say that punishing family members back in China is a standard technique used by the Chinese Government to put pressure on them” (Allard, Tom & Kerr, Joseph 2005, ‘China interrogated detainees’, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 June – Attachment 5);

A selection of recent examples follows: • Chinese Human Rights Defenders (11 September 2006): “On August 15, human rights lawyers Gao Zhisheng was secretly arrested by police in Dongying city in Shandong. …Since his arrest, the police have placed his wife and children under close and invasive surveillance” (Chinese Human Rights Defenders 2006, ‘China: Intensified Attack on Human Rights Defenders, 11 September http://crd- net.org/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=2154 – Accessed 30 October 2006 – Attachment 6); • Amnesty International (21 September 2006): “Members of Chen Guangcheng’s [blind human rights activist and legal adviser] family and his own defence lawyers have been also been subjected to beatings, harassment and intimidation” (Amnesty International 2006, People’s Republic of China: The Olympics countdown – failing to keep human rights promises, 21 September – Attachment 7); and • Human Rights Watch (14 May 2005): “Chinese security agents have launched what appears to be a politically motivated crackdown against the family and associated of Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent advocate of the rights of Chinese Muslim Uighur community” (Human Rights Watch 2005, ‘China: Uighur Activist’s Family Threatened’ 14 May – Attachment 8).

4. Anything else of relevance.

For more information on Falun Gong please see the Falun Gong Resource Guide.

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Government Information & Reports CPPCC http://www.cppcc.gov.cn/ (Chinese) Guangzhou Municipality http://www.guangzhou.gov.cn/ Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada http://www.irb.gc.ca/cgi- bin/foliocgi.exe/refinfo_e UK Home Office http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ US Department of State http://www.state.gov/ United Nations (UN) UNHCR http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home Non-Government Organisations Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/ Chinese Defenders Human Rights Defenders http://crd-net.org/index2.asp Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/ International News & Politics China Post http://www.chinapost.com.tw/ News Guangdong http://www.newsgd.com/ People’s Daily http://english.people.com.cn/ Taipei Times http://www.taipeitimes.com/News Search Engines Google http://www.google.com.au/

Databases: FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIMA Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. ‘Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’ 2005, News Guangdong, source: China.org.cn, 18 January http://www.newsgd.com/government/govdepart/200501180111.htm – Accessed 27 October 2006.

2. ‘GD Provincial CPPCC session opens’ 2006, Guangzhou Municipality website, 22 February http://www.guangzhou.gov.cn/node_420/node_683/2006- 02/114056985892692.shtml – Accessed 27 October 2006.

3. US Department of State 2006, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2005 – China, 8 March.

4. UN Economic Council 2006, Civil and Political Rights, including the question of torture and detention: Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak – Mission to China, 10 March, E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6

5. Allard, Tom & Kerr, Joseph 2005, ‘China interrogated detainees’, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 June. (CISNET China CX161146)

6. Chinese Human Rights Defenders 2006, ‘China: Intensified Attack on Human Rights Defenders, 11 September http://crd-net.org/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=2154 – Accessed 30 October 2006.

7. Amnesty International 2006, People’s Republic of China: The Olympics countdown – failing to keep human rights promises, 21 September.

8. Human Rights Watch 2005, ‘China: Uighur Activist’s Family Threatened’ 14 May.